Gone are the days when you could expect to fill out an application one week and be on the job the next. In this increasingly competitive market, you have to work hard just to get someone to read your resume (miracle of miracles if they actually ask to meet with you). Interviews may include five managers instead of one, and it might take a year to land a new position where it used to take a month.
If you've been lucky so far, don't count on avoiding the ax forever. The days of cradle-to-grave employment are over. Never again will anyone guarantee you a paycheck for life. The only way to enjoy true career security today is to build yourself a network, some financial reserves and a set of marketable skills. And you shouldn't wait until the last minute to do so, since none of these tools can be thrown together overnight. However, if you recently lost your job and weren't prepared for it, don't lose hope. It's too easy to start conjuring up worst-case scenarios when you're unemployed: “I will have to sell the house and move into a smaller place. The kids won't have enough money to pay for college. They'll have to take out huge loans or stay home. My spouse will have to go back to work or take a second job. I'll end up doing manual labor for entry-level wages. Then, my family will leave me and I'll end up on welfare. I'll have to start living out of my car, or move into a homeless shelter. Soon, I'll become a skid-row derelict drinking my dinner from a bottle. I'll end up just like that desperate guy in the suit who was standing at the expressway entrance the other day-the one with the sandwich board that read: "I'll take any job for $20,000 a year."
Such disaster fantasies won't make you feel better, and won't help you out of a bad employment situation. What you need is a whole new mind-set and an action plan to sustain your career. Here's what I suggest.
Do Good Work
A first-rate engineer with an impressive education and strong professional credentials always met - or exceeded - his employer's standards for excellence. His company, a health-care manufacturer in Niles, Illinois, consistently rewarded his achievements with raises, promotions and challenging new assignments.
So, when a two-year plan was announced to dismantle the manufacturing plant he called home, the engineer didn't worry. He assumed they'd need him to help close the place down and then move him into another division.
He was wrong. Within six weeks of the announcement, his name showed up on the very first list of job cuts. It wasn't personal, and he knew it. It was a straight business decision. His forte was improving the quality of the plant's manufacturing process. That talent was completely unnecessary once the company decided to shut the plant. Hence, he got his walking papers. If a great performance record doesn't guarantee you a place on the payroll, what's the point of trying to do a good job?
Because you'll feel better about yourself if you have to enter the job market. You'll know that the exigencies of business forced you out, not lackadaisical performance on your part. Because it will improve your marketable skills, even if you can't use them with your current employer.
Because it will remind others that it's a pleasure to work with you. Then, if you're laid off, co-workers are more likely to help you find something else. In other words, it will cement your network. And finally, because it will encourage your employer to find you another job within the organization if the company decides to downsize.
